Qualla: Puntland–Somaliland Dispute

Puntland–Somaliland Dispute: Introduction

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Two maps, two claims, and no resolution. Since 1998, when Puntland declared itself an autonomous state within Somalia, the provinces of Sool, Sanaag, and the Cayn area of Togdheer have been claimed by both Puntland and Somaliland. Each side bases its legitimacy on a different principle: Somaliland points to the colonial boundaries of British Somaliland, inherited at independence in 1960. Puntland points to the Dhulbahante and Warsangeli clans who inhabit these regions and whose kinship networks stretch east into Puntland territory. Neither map aligns with the other, and the people living in the disputed zones have paid the price for this mismatch ever since.

Puntland–Somaliland Dispute: The 1894 Line

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The border at the heart of the dispute was drawn by Britain and Italy in 1894, carving up the Somali-inhabited Horn of Africa into separate colonial zones. When British Somaliland gained independence on June 26, 1960, it existed as a sovereign state for exactly five days before v...

Puntland–Somaliland Dispute: The Battle for Las Anod

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The dispute turned violent in October 2007, when Somaliland's army advanced on Las Anod, the capital of the Sool region, and captured it from Puntland forces. Between 10 and 20 people died. Puntland, its military stretched thin by obligations in Mogadishu and constrained by a wea...

Puntland–Somaliland Dispute: SSC-Khaatumo and the Third Way

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The people caught in the middle repeatedly sought a path of their own. In 2012, Dhulbahante elders declared the Khatumo State, with Las Anod as its proclaimed capital, asserting autonomy from both Puntland and Somaliland. Khatumo was formally dissolved in 2017, but the impulse be...

Puntland–Somaliland Dispute: Maps and People

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Puntland-Somaliland dispute illustrates a tension found across post-colonial Africa: borders drawn by European powers do not always align with the communities they contain. Somaliland's claim rests on the principle of territorial integrity, the idea that the borders of the fo...